100 years ago.
A history making General Election that saw the electoral breakthrough for national self-determination and the rights of women is celebrated this week in a new stamp set issued by An Post.
The theme of the set is ‘popular democracy’ and celebrates the two ground-breaking aspects of the 1918 Irish General Election. They were designed by leading Dublin-based designer Ger Garland.
The stamps depict Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Éamon de Valera with the colours of the suffragette movement and Irish national flag.
The stamps also feature an ‘X’ to represent the election ballot paper which people used to cast their vote.
The 1918 General Election marked the first time women were allowed to participate in the national vote, and saw the moderate nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) defeated by Sinn Féin.
The IPP had dominated the Irish political landscape for almost four decades and the election result spurred other events such as the creation of the Dáil in 1919.
The stamps are available from Thursday, 18 October at main post offices, from the stamp counters at Dublin’s GPO or online at www.irishstamps.ie.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
